Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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Who is that climbing up the Empire State Building? Looks a lot like King Kong!
A Japanese money box. Pop a coin in and move the slider down, and watch as the boy carrying a bunch of flowers walks up the stairs, in order to present them to the girl who is waiting at the top. Having got to the top, he gives her a quick kiss and slides back down the stairs. But hang on a minute - he is still holding the flowers...
A panda climbs up a vertical ladder, and once at the top slides down with rather a bump
Next, a more complex mechanism. The bear has a basket on his back. Pop a coin in and wind the bear up. The bear then starts climbing the ladder, which is at 45 degrees. At a certain point the ladder tips forward, the bear does something of a faceplant, and the coin shoots forward into the little building, which is a money box. Was saving money ever this much fun?
Finally, a battery powered fireman with a very tall ladder. There are batteries in the base, and a metal strip runs up each side of the ladder which is how the electrical power reaches the little fireman. He climbs all the way to the top, where he triggers a switch which reverses the current so that he now steps down the ladder all the way to the bottom. He is definitely a bit quicker on the way down - a gravity assist! At the bottom the current reverses again, and he sets off back up the ladder.
Sign up for the free Grand Illusions newsletter, at conta.cc/3dplns1
______________________________________________________________________
Who is that climbing up the Empire State Building? Looks a lot like King Kong!
A Japanese money box. Pop a coin in and move the slider down, and watch as the boy carrying a bunch of flowers walks up the stairs, in order to present them to the girl who is waiting at the top. Having got to the top, he gives her a quick kiss and slides back down the stairs. But hang on a minute - he is still holding the flowers...
A panda climbs up a vertical ladder, and once at the top slides down with rather a bump
Next, a more complex mechanism. The bear has a basket on his back. Pop a coin in and wind the bear up. The bear then starts climbing the ladder, which is at 45 degrees. At a certain point the ladder tips forward, the bear does something of a faceplant, and the coin shoots forward into the little building, which is a money box. Was saving money ever this much fun?
Finally, a battery powered fireman with a very tall ladder. There are batteries in the base, and a metal strip runs up each side of the ladder which is how the electrical power reaches the little fireman. He climbs all the way to the top, where he triggers a switch which reverses the current so that he now steps down the ladder all the way to the bottom. He is definitely a bit quicker on the way down - a gravity assist! At the bottom the current reverses again, and he sets off back up the ladder.
